1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication device, in particular to technology for displaying emails on a cell phone.
2. Description of the Related Art
The recent cell phones are equipped with functions of, if a telephone number, ring alert and an image have been registered to the address book under the name of a caller, sounding the registered ring alert and displaying the image—e.g. a picture of the caller's face—when a call from the caller is incoming. Herewith, the users are able to identify callers before answering the phone.
Being called regardless of time and place is unpleasant; with emails (hereinafter, referred to simply as “mails”), the recipients can read them at their convenience. In addition, mails are generally more cost efficient for the senders, as compared to telephone calls. As a result, these days cell phones are increasingly used to make mail communication rather than to have telephone communication.
In response to this trend, a technology has been disclosed in which an image having been registered in accordance with the mail address of a sender is displayed when a mail from the sender is incoming, as in the case of when a call is incoming (Patent Reference 1).
<Patent Reference 1> Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2002-176679
With the above-mentioned technology, the user is able to identify senders at the receipt of mails; however, the memory fades away with time, and it is sometimes the case that the user has trouble not being able to recall or identify the sender when selecting a received mail from the received mail list or when opening a mail and reading the mail message.